Gomez tour dates and new single

Playing their catchiest rhythm and blues yet, Gomez return with new single Airstream Driver released on Eat Sleep Records on 13th April.

It is a timely evocation of that inimitable Gomez gift for weaving an eccentric view of modernity with rustic delta blues, and with new album A New Tide (out 6th April) marking a return to their freewheeling experimental roots, the band announce a run of UK tour dates this April.

The British band Gomez is a five-piece act consisting of Ben Ottewell (vocals, guitar), Tom Gray (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Paul Blackburn (bass, guitar), Olly Peacock (drums),  and Ian Ball (vocals, guitar, harmonica). Emerging during a time in which the majority of up-and-coming British bands were either retro-pop (à la Oasis), trip-hop (Portishead), or space rock (the Verve, Radiohead), Gomez was one of the few to contain bluesy elements in their rock. Their debut for Virgin Records, Bring It On, received praise from rock critics on both sides of the Atlantic. Gomez also received the distinguished Mercury Music Prize for 1998 Album of the Year in England, where they edged out such stiff competition as Massive Attack’s Mezzanine and the Verve’s Urban Hymns. They completed their inaugural U.S. tour opening for Eagle-Eye Cherry in October 1998, while the press still offered praise — Spin magazine called Bring It On “a damn beautiful album,” giving it an eight-out-of-ten rating. Liquid Skin followed in 1999 and the rarities and B-sides compilation Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline was issued a year later. A third studio album, In Our Gun, appeared in spring 2002. Another hiatus saw Ian Ball relocating to Los Angeles, while still working with the band at their new studio in Portslade, England. The dozens of tracks recorded during this time were whittled down and fashioned into Split the Difference, released in May of 2004. By that time, Hut, their original label, had gone under, leaving them signed to Virgin (Hut’s distributor). Despite all the critical acclaim, sales were never up to what Virgin was expecting from Gomez, and the two sides parted ways later that year. In 2005, they signed with ATO Records and released Out West, Gomez’s first live album, in June of that year. How We Operate arrived in May 2006, and the band rounded out the year by assembling a retrospective collection of singles, rarities, and unreleased tracks for Five Men in a Hut: Singles 1998-2004.

UK LIVE DATES:

APRIL
16th GLASGOW, Glasgow (www.ticketmaster.co.uk);
17th LEEDS, Academy (www.ticketweb.co.uk);
19th CAMBRIDGE, Junction (www.junction.co.uk);
20th MANCHESTER, Academy (www.gisandtours.com);
21st WOLVERHAMPTON, Wulfrun Hall(www.wolvescivic.co.uk);
22nd NORWICH, UEA (www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk)
24th LONDON, Shepherds Bush Empire (www.gisandtours.com)
26th BRISTOL, Academy (www.ticketweb.co.uk)
27th OXFORD, Academy (www.ticketweb.co.uk)
28th LIVERPOOL, Academy (www.ticketweb.co.uk)
30th DUBLIN, Academy/Olympia (www.ticketmaster.ie);

MAY
1st BELFAST, Mandela Hall (www.wegottickets.com)

With those distinctive voices, breezy harmonies, ceaselessly evolving rhythms and a melodic restlessness that sees vocals shared and verses cut in two, A New Tide is released on Eat Sleep Records on APRIL 6th.

The whirling psychedelia of Win Park Slope and Bone Tired; the country-fried rock of Little Pieces; and the eccentric, elasticated blues of If You Ask Nicely and Airstream Driver. Each moment born of boundless imagination and a longstanding collaborative relationship, and each as inventive and melodically addictive as those first creative milestones Bring It On and Liquid Skin.

As ever, a wide range of styles is incorporated into Gomez’s matchless musical brew. Flavours of Delta blues, psychedelia, and Krautrock all come into play, resulting in a musically mischievous and remarkably forward-thinking collection. In short, A NEW TIDE is Gomez at their inimitable, incomparable best.

The album – along with exclusive t-shirt offer – is available to pre-order now : http://eatsleep.sandbag.uk.com